THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

British politics is broken.

Anyone sitting down to watch the news will get the sense that something has gone terribly wrong. We have prime ministers who detonate the economy, secretaries of state who are intellectually incapable of doing the job and MPs who seem temperamentally unsuited to the role. Expertise is denigrated. Lies are rewarded. And deep-seated, long-lasting national problems go permanently unresolved. Most of us have a sense that the system doesn't work, but we struggle to articulate exactly why. Our political and financial system is cloaked in secrecy, archaic terminology, ancient custom and impenetrable technical jargon.

Lifting the lid on British politics, How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't exposes every aspect of the system in a way that can be understood and challenged, from the heights of Downing Street to the depths of the nation's newsrooms, from the hallways of the civil service to the green benches of the Commons.

Based on interviews with some of the leading voices in politics, from former occupants of No.10 to key figures in Whitehall, Westminster and Fleet Street, Ian Dunt provides exactly what people in power have always tried to avoid: a full description of the mechanisms of British government. And a vision of how we can fix it.

"lacerating . . . a savage indictment of the status quo. In a series of deeply informed and carefully worked out examples, Ian Dunt takes us through the Westminster labyrinth to reveal an omnishambles" - GUARDIAN

"Excellent . . . Dunt's analysis is refreshingly focused on reality, rather than academic abstraction. When he advocates change, it is because his book has shown how an existing set of incentives is ensuring failure. Read it and you will see just how deep our problems run" - NEW STATESMAN

"Dunt has spent years watching Westminster and his book offers a comprehensive analysis of the problems with these institutions . . . an elegant primer for those who wish to understand how power actually operates in Britain . . . far scarier than any conspiracy theory" - THE TIMES

"British politics, Dunt argues with his trademark insight and incisive wit, is broken. And it doesn't help that the way Westminster actually works is shrouded in secrecy. Here he exposes the truth behind our political systems in a rousing call to arms" - i NEWSPAPER